California's most iconic burger chain is on the cusp of a massive change to its main ingredient

From the no-frills menu to the juicy burgers, fresh lettuce, and
perfectly crispy-on-the-outside-soft-on-the-inside french fries,
what's not to love about In-N-Out?

Apparently one thing, at least according to some vocal fans: The
company is still using meat from animals that are routinely fed
antibiotics.

Last week, representatives from more than 50 consumer and
environmental groups sent a letter to the
Irvine, California-based chain asking it to stop serving
meat produced with the drugs.

The practice of feeding farm animals antibiotics is
routine: The drugs, when used judiciously, can be a critical tool
for the ranchers who raise livestock.

It's when too many of the drugs are given out too
frequently — especially to animals that don't need them — that
major problems begin to surface.

Years of research from around the world, including a
2013 report from the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, strongly suggest that antibiotic overuse is
fueling a grim scenario in which super-strong,
infection-igniting bacteria (so-called superbugs) no longer
respond to the drugs we prescribe to treat them.

The problem is being driven by 2 main factors — only one of
which is related to food

Getty Images/Joe
Raedle

1. Doctors are giving antibiotics to people who don't necessarily
need them, and the problem is deadly: Experts estimate that
as
many as half of all antibiotic prescriptions given out in the
US are unnecessary. From 2000 to 2010, international sales of
antibiotics for human use shot up 36%, according to a recent
report in the British medical journal The Lancet. The practice is
already having tragic effects: In 2013,
23,000 Americansdied from bacterial infections that
didn't respond to antibiotics.

2. Farmers are feeding large amounts of antibiotics to
livestock:Farmers
give antibiotics to
pigs, cattle, and chickens, creating stronger, more
resistant bacterial strains. According to a
recent USDA report, the amount of antibiotics farmers
gave to their stocks rose by 16% from 2009 to 2012. But here's an
even bigger problem: Close to 70% of those drugs are also the
ones that
humans use to fight
infections.Oops.

In-N-Out wouldn't be alone if it turned away from
antibiotics

Hollis Johnson/Business
Insider

If it chooses to respond to the letter (which from
its email to Reuters it sounds as if it very well could),
In-N-Out would join a handful of other chains that have promised
to phase out meat produced with antibiotics.

The chains include Chipotle, which says it's already
antibiotic-free, and McDonald's, which says it has plans to
reduce its use of meat made with the drugs.

"As a hamburger restaurant known for its high-quality,
fresh ingredients, In-N-Out should be a leader on this issue,"
Jason Pfeifle, a public-health advocate with the
Calpirg Education Fund who is one of the letter's cosignatories,
said in a press release. "It's time for the company to set a
strong antibiotics policy that will help push the meat industry
to do the right thing for public health."